Review: The Dungeon House by Martin Edwards

A Mysterious Review of The Dungeon House by Martin Edwards. A Lake District Mystery.

Review summary: This is an engrossing mystery where the events of today are directly tied to people and places of the past, with intricately connected plots between the two time periods. The author does an excellent job of creating doubt in the reader's mind where realistically, there should be none. Highly recommended. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

The Dungeon House
Martin Edwards
A Lake District Mystery
Poisoned Pen Press (September 2015)

Publisher synopsis: The magnificent Dungeon House and gardens overlook Cumbria's remote western coast with its mix of beaches, dunes, and fells, Roman ruins, and nuclear plant. Twenty years ago the wealthy Whiteleys called it home. But not a happy one. Malcolm Whiteley had begun to disintegrate under financial and emotional pressures. He suspected various men in their social circle of being his wife's lover. After a disastrous party for the neighbours, Lysette told Malcolm their marriage was over. Sadly an old Winchester rifle he had been hiding was at hand …

Fast forward to today. Hannah Scarlett's cold case team is looking into the three-year old disappearance of Lily Elstone whose father Gray had been Malcolm's accountant. The investigation coincides with yet another disappearance of a teenage girl: Shona Whiteley, daughter of Malcolm's nephew Nigel, who now lives in the Dungeon House despite its tragic history.

As Hannah's team digs down into the past, doubts arise about what really happened the night Malcolm killed his wife and 16-year-old daughter Amber, then himself. Most of the people once close to the Whiteleys still live nearby. And one Joanna Footit, and her secrets, now returns from London. While Hannah leads the complex police inquiries, it is her lover, historian Daniel Kind, who supplies Hannah with the lead that unlocks the whole. Does it come too late?

Black Out, A Novel of Suspense by Lisa Unger, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Broadway Books …

Black Out by Lisa Unger

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Broadway Books

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 7:00 PM ET).

  

When my mother named me Ophelia, she thought she was being literary. She didn't realize she was being tragic …

On the surface, Annie Powers's life in a wealthy Floridian suburb is happy and idyllic. Her husband, Gray, loves her fiercely; together, they dote on their beautiful young daughter, Victory.

But the bubble surrounding Annie is pricked when she senses that the demons of her past have resurfaced and, to her horror, are now creeping up on her. These are demons she can't fully recall because of a highly dissociative state that allowed her to forget the tragic and violent episodes of her earlier life as Ophelia March and to start over, under the loving and protective eye of Gray, as Annie Powers.

Disturbing events — the appearance of a familiar dark figure on the beach, the mysterious murder of her psychologist — trigger strange and confusing memories for Annie, who realizes she has to quickly piece them together before her past comes to claim her future and her daughter.

— Black Out by Lisa Unger

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All the Beautiful Brides, A Graveyard Falls Novel of Suspense by Rita Herron, New This Week from Montlake Romance

Montlake Romance delivers happily-ever-afters for all romantic reading tastes, from steamy to sweet, from sweeping historicals to provocative paranormals.

In this post, we've selected one of their recently published suspense titles to feature here today …

All the Beautiful Brides by Rita Herron

A Graveyard Falls Novel of Suspense (1st in series)

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Price: $3.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 6:30 PM ET).

  

A young woman lies dead at the bottom of a waterfall, dressed in a wedding gown with a rose stem jammed down her throat. And in the small town of Graveyard Falls, the horrifying vision stirs a long-ago nightmare back to life.

FBI Special Agent Cal Coulter gets called in to investigate the murder, which bears a terrifying resemblance to a series of killings committed thirty years ago: three teenage girls were found dead at the waterfall's base, all bearing rose stems in their throats. The high school football star was convicted and imprisoned for those murders, so now Cal suspects that the real killer is still out there.

Now, the body count is rising again. The monster's sights are set on counselor Mona Monroe, Cal's best friend's widow … and the woman he's always loved. Can Cal stop the killer before Mona becomes the next victim?

— All the Beautiful Brides by Rita Herron

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Slingshot, A Spycatcher Thriller by Matthew Dunn, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, William Morrow …

Slingshot by Matthew Dunn

A Spycatcher Thriller (3rd in series)

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 6:00 PM ET).

  

On the streets of Gdansk, Poland, Will Cochrane waits for a Russian defector bearing a top-secret document. But when the target shows up, so does a team from the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR. Then, in a hail of crossfire, a van speeds into the melee and snatches the defector out from under them all. Everyone wants the man and the codes he carries — but now he's gone, and it's up to Will and his CIA /MI6 team to find him before the Russians do.

Tracking the missing Russian and his kidnappers, Will believes the defector has his own agenda. But soon it's apparent that the real perpetrator is a former East German Stasi officer who instigated a super-secret pact between Russian and U.S. generals almost twenty years ago. An agreement, which if broken, is designed to unleash the world's deadliest assassin.

And when the Russians task their own "spycatcher" to retrieve the document, Will must face two very clever, deadly adversaries who will stop at nothing to achieve their aims.

— Slingshot by Matthew Dunn

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Murders in the Blitz, An Eve Duncan Omnibus by Julia Underwood, New This Week from Endeavour Press

Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher, promoting and selling ebook editions of works by new authors as well as bringing out ebook editions of out of print books.

We've selected one of their recently published mystery, suspense, thriller or crime titles to feature here today …

Murders in the Blitz by Julia Underwood

An Eve Duncan Omnibus

Publisher: Endeavour Press

Price: $4.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 5:30 PM ET).

  

Eve Duncan, an unwitting private investigator, has been drawn into helping the police solve murder cases on the home-front. This omnibus includes the first three titles in this historical mystery series. It includes:

A MURDER OF NO ACCOUNT: London, 1940. A city is at war, and under siege. When Eve Duncan stumbles upon the body of a dead girl, she is shocked — but no one else seems very concerned. With the imminent threat of invasion by the Germans, and bombing by the Luftwaffe, no one has the time to concern themselves with the death of a Polish girl.

Who is the mysterious girl? Why was she killed? Eve is determined to find out what happened.

A MURDER CLOSE TO HOME: London, 1941. The local milkman is missing, and Eve has been enlisted by the understaffed police to help solve the mystery. When his body turns up at a bomb site, it becomes clear that his death was not an accidental casualty of war but a brutal murder. With war raging across the continent who would want to commit a murder close to home … ?

As the death toll mounts, and with the community in uproar, will Eve be able to solve the case before it is too late?

A MURDER IN THE COUNTRY: London, 1941. Eve has had enough of bombed-out London. She decides to visit Little Barrington in the countryside to stay with her sister, Grace. But what had promised to be a relaxing break away soon takes a dramatic turn. Some of the evacuated children Grace is looking after stumble upon the remains of a body in a field. But no one in the village has been reported missing …

Eve must battle to discover the identity of the mysterious body and stop the murderer before more people get hurt.

— Murders in the Blitz by Julia Underwood

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Circles in the Snow, A Bo Tully Mystery by Patrick F. McManus, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Skyhorse Publishing …

Circles in the Snow by Patrick F. McManus

A Bo Tully Mystery (6th in series)

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 5:00 PM ET).

  

Bo Tully, sheriff of Blight County, Idaho, has dealt with small-town crime throughout his long, storied career. Now, contemplating retirement after years on the job, Tully is faced with perhaps his most perplexing case yet. When area bald eagles start getting picked off by a ghost-like killer, and when a prominent local rancher is murdered by an arrow with eagle fletching, things gets complicated fast. In this fast-paced whodunit, Tully has a vast array of suspects to chose from — including the rancher's gorgeous, bird-loving wife who mysteriously leaves for a ranch in Mexico the day of the murder; the beautiful chef at the local house of ill repute, who is well-known as a budding ornithologist; and the ranch foreman, who is rumored to be having an affair with his boss's widow.

Will Tully put the pieces of the puzzle together, yet again? Will sending his dad, the former sheriff of Blight County, along with his number two man, down to Mexico help solve the mystery? And what about the mysterious large circles in the snow that Tully finds around the ranch — with no footprints leading in or out of the area?

It all adds up to another engrossing series of twists and turns. And in the end, Tully gets his man … or woman … or does he?

— Circles in the Snow by Patrick F. McManus

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The Backlist, A Crime Novel by Frank Zafiro and Eric Beetner, New This Week from Down and Out Books

Down & Out Books is noir … is the private eye … is hard-boiled.

We've selected one of their recently published mystery, suspense, thriller or crime titles to feature here today …

The Backlist by Frank Zafiro and Eric Beetner

A Crime Novel

Publisher: Down and Out Books

Price: $4.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 4:30 PM ET).

  

When the mob finds itself on hard times and has to lay people off, the boss decides to give two different hitters separate lists of "overdue accounts" — a backlist — to see who distinguishes themselves enough to remain on the payroll.

The sharp-tongued Bricks and the hapless, eager to please Cam find themselves faced with challenges they never imagined when they got into the business.

But there's no other choice than to settle out the names on … the backlist.

— The Backlist by Frank Zafiro and Eric Beetner

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The Devil Colony, A SIGMA Force Novel by James Rollins, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, William Morrow …

The Devil Colony by James Rollins

A SIGMA Force Novel (7th in series)

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 4:00 PM ET).

  

Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a gruesome discovery — hundreds of mummified bodies — stirs international attention and fervent controversy. Despite doubts about the bodies' origins, the local Native American Heritage Commission lays claim to the prehistoric remains, along with the strange artifacts found in the same cavern: gold plates inscribed with an unfathomable script.

During a riot at the dig site, an anthropologist dies horribly, burned to ashes in a fiery explosion in plain view of television cameras. All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator, a teenage firebrand who escapes with a vital clue to the murder and calls on the one person who might help — her uncle, Painter Crowe, Director of Sigma Force.

To protect his niece and uncover the truth, Painter will ignite a war among the nation's most powerful intelligence agencies. Yet an even greater threat looms as events in the Rocky Mountains have set in motion a frightening chain reaction, a geological meltdown that threatens the entire western half of the U.S.

From the volcanic peaks of Iceland to the blistering deserts of the American Southwest, from the gold vaults of Fort Knox to the bubbling geysers of Yellowstone, Painter Crowe joins forces with Commander Gray Pierce to penetrate the shadowy heart of a dark cabal, one that has been manipulating American history since the founding of the thirteen colonies.

But can Painter discover the truth — one that could topple governments — before it destroys all he holds dear?

— The Devil Colony by James Rollins

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She's Not There by P. J. Parrish, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015 …

She's Not There by P. J. Parrish, A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

  

They say it's better to battle the devil you know. But what if you don't recognize him before it's too late?

She knows her name is Amelia, but after waking up in a hospital battered and bruised with just the clothes on her back, it's all she knows. Unable to piece together her shattered memory, she's haunted by a vision: menacing faces and voices implying her nightmare is far from over.

Relying only on her wits and her will to live, Amelia becomes a fugitive from a mysterious man, and a life she can't even remember. But the past she's fleeing has no intention of letting her go.

— She's Not There by P. J. Parrish

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for September 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of September 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

Wild Justice, An Amanda Jaffe Thriller by Phillip Margolin, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, HarperCollins …

Wild Justice by Phillip Margolin

An Amanda Jaffe Thriller (1st in series)

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 3:00 PM ET).

  

Thursday: Subject is still combative after four days of applied pain, sleep deprivation and minimal food.

8:10: Subject bound and gaffed and placed in upstairs closet at end of hall. Turned out lights in house, drove off, then parked and doubled back. Watched from woods.

8:55: Subject exits house, naked and barefoot, armed with kitchen knife. Remarkable strength of character. Breaking her will be a challenge.

Vice squad detective Bobby Vasquez, for months on the trail of a slippery underworld figure, receives an anonymous tip that directs him to a mountain cabin. He races through the idyllic Oregon woods, expecting to close the book on a long-standing vendetta. What he finds instead opens a Pandora's box of horror that will haunt him to his dying day.

Within hours, Vincent Cordoni — a brilliant surgeon with a history of violence and drug abuse — is arrested for a heinous crime. Facing a seemingly insurmountable wall of evidence, he turns to Portland's top criminal defense attorney, Frank Jaffe-who, along with his ambitious daughter, Amanda, must put on an inspired defense. Amanda's first taste of criminal defense work is as intoxicating as it is chilling, but it raises moral questions she's loath to address. Is she defending an innocent man? Or is she using her considerable skills to set a monster free? Then Cardoni disappears under bizarre circumstances. Four years later, a second set of murders has begun …

Has Cardoni resurfaced to ply his deadly trade anew? Is there a copycat killer? Or has the real killer been someone else all along? The police will do everything they can to stop Cardoni — but they have to find him first.

Following a twisting trail of clues, including a harrowing diary that clinically records the killer's horrible deeds, Amanda Jaffe and Bobby Vasquez join the hunt-and themselves become targets of the twenty-first century's first genuinely monstrous psychopath.

— Wild Justice by Phillip Margolin

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Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Driving Heat by Richard Castle, New in Bookstores during September 2015

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during September 2015 is …

Driving Heat by Richard Castle, a Nikki Heat Mystery (7th in series)

Publisher: Kingswell

    

Nikki Heat, the NYPD's top homicide detective, has been promoted to captain just in time to face a thrilling case with a very personal twist. Captain Heat's fiancé, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jameson Rook, is deep in an investigation.

Professionally for Heat, Rook's meddling in the case compromises her new job. Privately, it becomes an early test of their engagement when Rook becomes a distraction at best, and an obstacle at worst, as their parallel lives not only cross, but collide.

— Driving Heat by Richard Castle

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for September 2015. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of September 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

The Unyielding Future by Brian O'Grady, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015 …

The Unyielding Future by Brian O'Grady, A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: The Story Plant

  

There are forces at play.

Forces that can prevent massacres … or cause them. Stop murderers in their tracks … or inspire them. Save the world … or destroy it.

A doctor and his family are about to discover these forces. They are going to play a role in a future that needs changing but seems unyielding. And they are going to learn more about our world than they ever imagined — or ever wished to know.

— The Unyielding Future by Brian O'Grady

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for September 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of September 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

The Cutout, A Suspense Thriller by Francine Mathews, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Bantam …

The Cutout by Francine Mathews

A Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Bantam

Price: 99¢ (as of 09/15/2015 at 1:00 PM ET).

  

They were partners — lovers in a business where betrayal is a heartbeat away. CIA analyst Caroline Carmichael lost her husband Eric when his plane was blown out of the sky by an elite group of terrorists known as 30 April.

Now her dead husband has surfaced among those responsible for an explosion that rocks Berlin — and the brutal kidnapping of the U.S. Vice President. Uncertain of Eric's motives and loyalties, the Agency plays its last, best card: Eric's wife — the Cutout.

Is Eric a rogue agent gone bad? Or has he thrown himself under deep cover to terminate a ruthless psychopath? Caroline is drawn into a dizzying maze where one wrong turn will mean certain death … and in which the Cutout will be the first to fall.

— The Cutout by Francine Mathews

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The Little Men, A Bibliomystery Short Story by Megan Abbott, New This Week from Mysterious Press

Every so often — but not often enough, in our opinion! — Mysterious Press publishes a new bibliomystery, short tales about deadly books written by some of crime fiction's best authors. Omnimystery News is pleased to present the latest entry in this series, new this week …

The Little Men by Megan Abbott

A Bibliomystery Short Story

Publisher: Mysterious Press

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 12:30 PM ET).

  

In 1953, Penny is just another washed-up, wannabe Hollywood actress who is past her prime. She has settled in to a quiet lifestyle, and when she finds a low-rent bungalow in Canyon Arms, it's a dream come true; Penny takes to the place instantly.

But the dream cottage with its French doors and tiled courtyard may not be as perfect as it seems. Penny's new neighbors start filling her head with stories about past tenants, whispering voices, and a suicide that may not have been a suicide at all. Soon enough, Penny starts hearing strange noises and she can't help but wonder about the true fate of the bookseller who died in her home a dozen years earlier. Her suspicions are only fueled by the ominous inscription that she discovers in a book that's closely guarded by her landlord …

— The Little Men by Megan Abbott

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Jig, A Frank Pagan Novel by Campbell Armstrong, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Open Road …

Jig by Campbell Armstrong

A Frank Pagan Novel (1st in series)

Publisher: Open Road

Price: $2.99 (as of 09/15/2015 at 12:00 PM ET).

  

Open Road titles are often discounted for one day only, so if you are interested in buying this book, please confirm the price before you purchase it.

A leaky old ship has reliably ferried tons of important freight from America to the Old Country in its decades of service to the Irish Republican Army, from automatic rifles to deadly assassins. Now it is berthing with especially precious cargo: couriers holding briefcases filled with millions of crisp American dollars. In one blinding firefight, the shipment is hijacked. The terrorists trust only one man to go after their money — Jig the dancer, their most reliable assassin, who kills without harming the innocent.

Hot on Jig's trail is Scotland Yard's renegade detective Frank Pagan, who suspects an inside job. The dark path of hunter and hunted takes the two men through the minefields of the IRA's war and across the Atlantic to America, where Pagan and Jig are forced to postpone their duel and work together to solve a savage puzzle.

— Jig by Campbell Armstrong

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.